to a bleeding wound on his stomach. The twins had hate etched on their faces and murder in their hearts. James hadn’t moved from where he was thrown, and my jaw tensed. The only way they would have been able to capture him would be by disabling him completely. He wouldn’t have gone peacefully. And Caleb, my sweet Caleb. His face was covered in cuts and bruises, but there was defiance in his eyes.
How long had I been locked in my magical battle against the power of the Morrigan? The battle had been fought and lost without me. My mates were alive, but they were captured by the enemy. What about the rest of our allies? The wolves? The lamia? Where were they? How many still lived?
“I had the other survivors brought to the dungeon,” the Morrigan said with a smile as she answered my unasked question. “My pets deserve a reward after all of their hard work.”
I swallowed down my nausea. I hadn’t looked around while we ran through the dungeon, but it seemed like a place of horrors. I didn’t want anyone left down there - Morrigan’s pets were probably worse than the demons of hell. I had to get our friends out of there.
The Morrigan stepped toward my mates, dark magic pooling around her. I felt her inhale, felt her magic coil like a snake readying for a strike. I panicked, unable to hold back any longer. I attempted to throw every bit of magic I possessed in her direction.
Nothing happened.
Magic pulsed and swirled within me, ready for a release, but something held it back. Drake held it back. His magic was so closely intertwined with mine that I couldn’t break free. We were so twisted together that one wouldn’t be able to act without the other.
“Drake please,” I begged him.
Time slowed to a crawl, and everything looked like it was happening in slow motion. A smile slowly stretched over the Morrigan’s face as she prepared to strike. My heart thudded, and an eternity passed before the next beat.
“Mother,” Drake called out pleasantly. “Would you allow my intended to do the honor of eliminating the last of your enemies?”
The Morrigan didn’t take her eyes off my guys, but she hesitated. A bead of cold sweat trailed down my spine as she deliberated.
“Fine,” she said as her magic snapped back inside of her. “She can either prove her loyalty to you or betray you for the last time.” She turned to Drake. “If she doesn’t do it, then it’s your duty to kill her and the others.”
“That won’t be a problem,” he said smoothly as he nudged me forward.
Magic surged within me, Drake’s power merging with my own. My eyes widened in panic. What was he expecting me to do? I couldn’t hurt any of them. I wouldn’t.
I took one tiny step toward where Austin watched me with resignation in his eyes. “If I die, I want my last sight to be you,” he murmured to me. “Do what you need to do to survive. I’ll find peace knowing that my death could spare your life.”
“Sweet,” the Morrigan said drily. “But get on with it.”
My hand lifted against my will, power concentrating in my cupped palm. The light of my magic had veins of darkness running through it, no longer pure. I knew Austin would die the moment that power hit him, and there would be nothing that could save him.
The Morrigan looked on in anticipation, probably thriving on the angst in my heart and hungering for the death of the men I loved.
“Now,” Drake whispered inside me.
His hold relaxed on me, and I spun, releasing my magic as I turned to the Morrigan. Her jaw dropped in surprise, but she was too quick. My magic barely singed her before she deflected it up to the ceiling. My ball of magic cut through the stone like a hot knife through butter, causing pieces of the ceiling to rain down on us.
The Morrigan laughed and raised her hand, dark magic roiling. But then it fizzled. The Morrigan choked, and her jaw dropped in surprise.
The purple glow of magic from the staff we’d stolen from the Jaguar goddess broke through her throat, spurting blood everywhere. The world paused as the Morrigan grasped the tip embedded in her neck, the scent of burning flesh filling the air as the magic burned brighter.
Froston stepped out from behind her, jerking the staff out of her throat. Her wound immediately started to heal, but